The workshop is organized as part of the UNCTAD Project on "Building Capacity for Improved Policy Making and Negotiation on Key Trade and Environment Issues". It will involve eight Central American and Caribbean countries and will address the following two issues:

1) Environmental Goods and Services (EGS)
Based on national studies prepared under the project, the discussions will involve different stakeholders from government ministries, suppliers of environmental services, Geneva-based trade negotiators, international experts and NGOs. This workshop is a follow up to a regional UNCTAD/ECLAC workshop on EGS (Havana, Cuba, 24-25 March 2003) and the UNCTAD Expert Meeting on Definitions and Dimensions of Environmental Goods and Services in Trade and Development (Geneva, 9-11 July 2003).

2) Market Access and Environmental Requirements
This is a follow-up to the Expert Meeting on the same topic (Geneva, 2-4 October 2002). Participants will discuss opportunities for production and exports of organic products and other environmentally preferable products as well as future work on environmental requirements and international trade of selected agricultural products, involving the Government and the private sector. It will also launch the discussion on market access for selected products of the participating countries: Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. The discussions of both issues will be addressed within the framework of recent trade agreements being negotiated in the region. The workshop will also be useful in preparation of UNCTAD XI